Nothing is worse than waiting to get paid, especially after you have just won big. Sitting around for days is simply unacceptable, which is why there has been a significant shift in the payment options of online gambling in recent years. The growing popularity of digital assets, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and others, is a hallmark of this shift. Crypto gambling is a revolution that is here to stay, largely thanks to near-instant withdrawal capabilities. Join us and see exactly how crypto giants manage to pull this off! 

The Problem with Traditional Banking Methods

Conventional online gambling is based on fiat currencies, such as USD, EUR, or GDP, that are processed through standard banking systems. Using a credit card, bank transfer, or third-party payment platform has the perk of familiarity, but the con is that it takes from 24 hours to a week to clear. However, there are more perks and cons that you should take into account, such as:

Feature	Traditional Banking	Crypto Withdrawals
Processing time	1-7 business days	Minutes to hours
Fees	Higher fees, especially with credit card payment	Lower transaction fees
Intermediaries	Sometimes multiple intermediaries, at least one	None since all the transactions are peer-to-peer
Banking hours	Limited by the bank’s business hours	24/7, including weekends and holidays
Privacy	Based on personal and banking information	Completely anonymous transactions
Security	Vulnerable to fraud and chargebacks	As secure and encrypted as possible but also irreversible

The processing times of traditional banking can be very annoying, especially when delays come into play. To fully understand this integral traditional banking problem, you first have to understand these factors:

• Banking hours – banks and financial institutions process payment only during business hours, meaning that transactions made during weekends and holidays always get delayed.
• Intermediaries – a traditional payment usually goes through multiple intermediaries, each with their own checks, authorizations, and delays.
• Verification – casinos and payment gateways have to verify their customers and their transactions to prevent fraud, which additionally prolongs transactions.

The Advantages of Cryptocurrencies in Gambling

There are multiple reasons why cryptocurrency gambling has near-instant transactions, including withdrawals. The main ones are:

Decentralization

Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin are based on decentralized networks that do not rely on central banking intuition to validate transactions. The backbone of these is a blockchain, a sort of public ledger that automatically verifies and records transactions. This system allows transactions to be processed 24/7, regardless of banking hours, weekends, and holidays.

Transaction Speed

Crypto transactions can be processed in minutes and, in some cases, even in seconds. While your exact transaction speed depends on network congestion, a crypto transaction is much faster than a traditional one. A superb example of the Ethereum blockchain, which allows gambling withdrawals and deposits to be processed in as little as 15 seconds.

Lower Transaction Costs

Traditional payment methods have some form of transaction fee, with processing fees, currency conversion charges, and intermediary costs being the primary ones. Crypto transactions, on the other hand, generally have lower fees that are paid to miners who validate the blockchain. It is this cost-effectiveness that is especially important to small deposit makers.

Smart Contracts and Automated Payments

Various crypto-gambling platforms are using smart contracts to facilitate automatic payouts. A smart contract is essentially a contract that processes itself, with terms written directly into the code. When a player wins, the contract automatically checks for payout criteria and releases winnings to crypto wallets, further eliminating delays caused by manual approval.

The Growing Popularity of Crypto Gambling

Gambling platforms are trying their hardest to cash in on the promise of instant withdrawals. Punters are becoming increasing tech-savvy and expecting faster, more convenient services. An online gambling site that wants to draw in massive crowds, therefore, has to provide its customers with faster payouts that are bursting with control over funds. This is where multiple challenges and obstacles come into play.

Challenges and Considerations

While cryptocurrencies enable instant withdrawals, they do come with some challenges and considerations. Crypto is, for one, highly volatile. The value of your winnings can, therefore, fluctuate greatly from the time of your withdrawal to the time of conversion into fiat currencies. What is more, using a crypto wallet has a slight learning curve that you can address with our handy guides. But that is not all; congestion on networks can slow down transactions, especially in the case of popular cryptos like Bitcoin. However, crypto withdrawals remain the cleverest solution for speedy withdrawals. It is up to you whether you will use technology in the future or not.